


Laughter & Lies

by Asraella



Series: Summer Angst Microfics [15]
Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga), Death Note: Another Note
Genre: Angst, Pre-LABB Case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asraella/pseuds/Asraella
Summary: Beyond's Love wants to understand his need to be someone else.
Series: Summer Angst Microfics [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771870
Kudos: 6





	Laughter & Lies

**Author's Note:**

> For the Tumblr prompt: You have no idea who I am.

Beyond tossed his head back and cackled, smearing the charcoal under his eyes as he practiced his laugh.

“No, that isn’t right. It would be more like this,” he admonished himself out loud to the empty room before he broke into the next laugh, this one breathier and flippant.

He slammed his fists down on the vanity and glared at his reflection. “That isn’t right either.”

“Hon?” Beyond’s Love stood cautiously in the doorway to his room. “Are you ok?”

“It isn’t right.” He sat on the edge of his bed, his shoulders hunching forward in defeat. It was the closest he had ever truly come to naturally acting like L. “It has to be a perfect facsimile.”

They sat down next to him, the mattress barely responding to their weight. “I don’t understand why you have to pretend to be this other detective to solve this case. Deneuve was it?”

He couldn’t tell them that this was just another lie, another fabrication to allow him all the room he needed to perfect his charade, to become the World’s Greatest Detective.

No...The world's greatest criminal.

“For your own safety, that is information I cannot divulge.”

He was proud of that response. Not only did he dodge their question, he was sure he gave an answer that L would have given if he was in B’s position.

But L would never know what it is to be in B’s position.

“I appreciate that you want to protect me, and I understand if the disguise and fake name are meant to protect you as well, but the lengths you are going to-“

“There’s no possible way you would understand.” He growled the words through gnashed teeth.

“I understand that this is more than just a case.” They stood up and pointed to the mess of makeup sprawled across the vanity. “I’m not an idiot, B. I know you are hiding something, that you’re planning something. I may not know the details, but I know you well enough to-“

“You don’t know me. You have no idea who I am.”

“That may be true, but that’s because I only know what you’ll let me know.” They pulled a tissue from the box on the nightstand and crouched down in front of him, gently to wiping away the artificial bags he had painted under his eyes. “What little bit I do know, I love very much. Please let that be enough to stop you from whatever it is you’re doing.”

He swallowed hard, gulping down every word he wanted to say, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. He wanted to tell them that it wasn’t their love that wasn’t enough, that for as far back as he could remember, it was always him that was never enough. He wasn’t enough to save either of his parents, wasn’t enough to be L’s successor, and now he was risking not being enough to be the world’s greatest criminal, the one that would take out L once and for all, to commit a crime that would haunt the Great Detective for the rest of his life, even if that meant he had to lose his own in the process.

Instead he looked at them through grayish-blue contacts and wore a smile that spoke yet another lie to the only person that wanted him for him.

“Like I said, it’s just for a case I will be working on. Nothing more.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank You for Reading! Here's my[Tumblr](https://my-one-true-l.tumblr.com/) if you're interested.


End file.
